The invention relates generally to a machine for removing water from outdoor surfaces and, more particularly, to a drying unit using a combination of vacuum and water displacement to remove water from an irregular outdoor surface.
Current methods of drying a surface, such as an automobile race track or an artificial turf surface, rely on absorption, evaporation, displacement, jet drying, or wet-vac techniques, but none enjoy the benefits of the present invention. Absorption techniques rely on sponge-like materials that are typically rolled across the surface to be dried, enabling the sponge to absorb the water. The water must then be squeezed out of the sponge-like material, but as conventional squeezing techniques can not remove all of the water from these materials, during its use it loses its efficiency and ability to remove additional amounts.
Evaporation techniques rely upon evaporation of the water into the atmosphere. However, immediately after a rain, which is typically when a surface will need to be dried, the humidity levels approach 100%. High levels of humidity in the atmosphere combined with a lack of sufficient direct sunlight decreases the efficiency of systems that rely upon evaporative techniques. Additionally, these techniques do not work effectively in close proximity to walls at the outer edges of the surface where water tends to puddle. Furthermore, evaporative techniques do not work effectively on surfaces that have irregularities where water can collect because evaporation rates are effected not only by humidity levels, but also by the exposed surface area to the air. Puddles of water trapped in irregularities or along outer edges of a track have reduced surfaces areas and, thus, take longer to evaporate. Whereas deep puddles may be dried using other techniques, such as suction or wet-vac devices, these techniques are not useful for large surface areas.
Therefore, what is needed is a drying unit that can effectively dry a wet surface regardless of the irregularities on the surface or the level of humidity in the air.